Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my vampire/human hybrid, Hanneli. She belongs to me. Everything else is Stephenie Meyer's
"Bella, we're leaving."
"My world is not for you."
"Bella, I don't want you to come with me."
"Of course, I'll always love you ... in a way. But what happened the other night made me realize that it's time for a change. Because I'm ... tired of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella. I am not human. I've let this go on much too long, and I'm sorry for that."
"I would like to ask one favor, though, if that's not too much. Don't do anything reckless or stupid."
"And I'll make you a promise in return. I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't come back. I won't put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I'd never existed."
"Don't worry. You're human. Your memory is no more than a sieve. Time heals all wounds for your kind."
"Goodbye, Bella."
"Take care of yourself."
The goodbye rang true and final in her ears as she watched him leave at a human's pace. Of course she could have followed him, but what was the point in that? He didn't want her and no matter how hard she tried, nothing would change that fact.
Watching him disappear through the trees, tears overflowed and stung her cheeks as they cascaded down her face. The life she had come to love was over. The man she had relied on was gone. This was the last page in the book of her life with Edward Cullen. His last words rang true and final. "Goodbye, Bella. Take care of yourself." Those were the last words she would ever hear him say. Bella wished desperately that there was some way she could bottle the words up so they might never fade from her memory.
"Wait!" she called to the nothingness ahead of her. Even though she knew without a doubt he was long gone and couldn't hear her, she called out his name as she stumbled forward a few steps then broke into a run.
"Wait! Edward, please stop!" yelled a distraught Bella. She hadn't said a proper goodbye and it agitated her. How could he leave before she said goodbye? Did she not deserve to tell him "Be safe" as well? It wasn't fair. He got to say goodbye. Why didn't she?
"Wait, Edward!" she called out desperately one last time before tripping over a tree root. Bella didn't bother to pick herself up off the ground. It was pointless in her eyes.
Through her sobs, she managed to say, "Goodbye Edward. I love you."
Time seemed irrelevant as she lay on the forest floor crying. It could have been minutes, hours, or days that had passed when she began to faintly hear someone calling her name over and over again.
"Edward?" she managed to whisper, thinking maybe he had come back after all. Her throat was hoarse from the crying and she couldn't manage anything louder. As the voice grew louder she realized it was not one voice, but rather many separate voices. And none of them belonged to him. Who was she fooling? He wasn't coming back. He didn't want her. Not now; not ever. Bella stopped trying to respond. It didn't matter to her. She didn't care that the voices sounded worried and scared. None of it mattered. Not without Edward.
Bella Swan felt empty. She was an abandoned hermit crab shell. He out grew her and moved on, leaving her to be pummeled by the ocean and rocks.
An indefinite amount of time passed as she half listened to the voices. They would get louder, signaling close proximity then fade away once again.
At some point she must have fallen asleep because the next time someone drew close enough for her to hear the footsteps, she looked up and didn't believe what she saw. Standing in front of her was what appeared to be a black wolf, though she couldn't be certain in the darkness. The wolf looked to be the size of a bear, if not bigger. Slowly, as if trying not to scare her, the wolf backed away until it was completely hidden by the brush once again.
After what felt like only a few seconds, a man emerged from the place the wolf had been.
"Bella Swan," said a voice that was deep and unfamiliar to her. Unlike before, this man was not calling her name in search, but rather acknowledging that the girl had been found.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In my mind, I had always imagined her to be slightly stronger than she is portrayed to be in New Moon. I intend to write her that way.
Also, as you can see in the image, I do not support Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. I firmly believe that Danielle Panabaker or Anna Popplewell should have played Bella.
This will be a mostly Jacob/Bella story with only little bits and pieces of Edward/Bella.
Another warning, my vampire/human hybrid will not be like Stephanie Meyer's. I own Hanneli, the hybrid.
The next chapter has north of 3k words and will be posted in a week or when I get two reviews